Joe Scarborough erupted at Democrats on Monday in a fiery rant, screaming that party leaders were allowing its most controversial voices to become an electoral liability because they were “too woke to call out the obvious.”
The MS NOW crew began by airing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) Sunday appearance on ABC’s This Week, where she was pressed about Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong and her past calls to abolish police, prisons, and even Thanksgiving.
Ocasio-Cortez said Hong had “moved away” from many of those positions and, discussing the broader politics of the Covid era, quoted a New York City councilman: “Woke 1 was crazy.”
Ossé shared a clip of Ocasio-Cortez’s response and wrote on the social platform X, “Woke 1 was crazyyyy, Madame President.”
After the clip of the congresswoman downplaying the remarks, Scarborough unloaded on the dismissive response, arguing there was “no great conspiracy” behind renewed scrutiny of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), pointing to the success of New York City’s DSA-aligned Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as Mayor of the City of New York on January 1st.
The 34-year-old state assemblyman and self-identified democratic socialist is known for his progressive politics and grassroots appeal, and is the city’s first Muslim elected mayor.
Scarborough praised the new mayor while also taking aim at other DSA figures.
“But you also have [DSA] people in New York City that have been saying some whacked out things,” Scarborough said. He continued: “I think most mainstream voters would say they’re whacked out things, when their talking about going to pro-Hamas rallies the day after Hamas slaughtered more Jews than on any day since the Holocaust. I think 90% of Americans would think that is abhorrent.”
“And so, you know, again, they’ll try to blur the lines – ‘Oh, well, they just don’t support healthcare for all’ – no, no, we’re not saying that. We just [don’t] support hate speech,” he added.
The host turned his focus to the 2024 presidential race and what he viewed as Democratic failures.
“Pivoting to the 2024 election, Scarborough railed that Democrats had failed to confront culturally divisive issues that Republicans successfully weaponized against Kamala Harris.
He outlined the scale of the messaging problem his party faced. “You couldn’t watch an NFL game without seeing 300, ‘Taxpayers are going to pay for trans surgeries for convicts’ ads,” Scarborough said, arguing that the messaging moved working-class male voters across all demographics toward President Trump.
“I don’t need people telling me, ‘Oh, you have to just turn a blind eye to people saying that women getting raped on Oct. 7 didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.’ Americans aren’t going to support that,” Scarborough continued.
“If somebody [talks about] going to a [pro-Hamas] rally the day after Hamas slaughters more Jews than any time since the Holocaust, it’s OK for Chuck Schumer, it’s OK for Hakeem Jeffries to call that despicable and demand that people distance themselves from that.”
He argued Democrats could still win by messaging differently.
“Why are we bringing this up now?” he asked in conclusion. “Because it seems an awful lot like what was happening in 2024 when Democrats couldn’t get out of their own way to win an election they should have won!”
“It’s not about me, this is about the Democrats once again fumbling the football on the two yard line when they have a chance to make great gains but being so woke – I don’t know if you want to call it woke 1, woke 2 or woke 3 – but being too woke to call out the obvious!”
he shouted.
“I swear to God, it’s really – it’s crazy that we’re even having this conversation!” he roared.
In the viral moment on Sunday’s “This Week,” Ocasio-Cortez had declined to endorse Hong, a democratic socialist running in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary.
Her decision falls in line with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the national branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, which have both declined to endorse Hong.
In previous years, Hong shared statements in support of abolishing prisons, defunding the police and canceling Thanksgiving, all of which are views the gubernatorial candidate says have now shifted.
“No, I haven’t endorsed in that race,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “My focus has been in winning back the Congress, winning back the House, and positioning ourselves to have the best chance possible to win the Senate.
Scarborough said Democratic leaders, including Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), should be willing to condemn extreme rhetoric and demand candidates distance themselves from it.
Wisconsin voters will determine the Democratic nominee on Tuesday.